Hello All
First of all I like to thank all those people who have visited my blog, in the space of five days I have had around 140 first time visits, its inspired me to write more. Please bear in mind when I first set out to write this blog I originally intended to write about all the Martial Arts I practice, one art for each week, but because of the positive feedback from the first Eskrima entry I have made this my second Eskrima entry blog. This one is more of an article then an actual journal entry which I will publish soon.
I have an online comment in reaction to my previous blog:"Warriors Eskrima Blog:Five down,one to go", by Philipp from Germany,one paragraph in particular struck me as you can read below:
"First I would recommend a book: "Living the martial way" this book every warrior should read. It also describes a problem of modern martial arts. Sometimes I have a feeling most people are just chasing for the belts.-"
The rest of his comments were very complimentary and the way Philipp describes one of his lessons was really interesting, you can read his comment at the bottom of my last blog. I have to thank Philipp for his kind recommendation. I will at some point purchase this book and will do book reviews on a number of Martial Ats and Eskrima books in the near future for this blog. I looked at the last line:"Sometimes I have a feeling most people are just chasing for the belts" I thought to myself is that my true motivation as well?
Well I am glad to say its good to get recognition and good to be graded but for my brother and I it is not our motivation to carry it on just to pass gradings. We just want to master and enjoy the art and belts/levels are just part of the curriculum. So while its good to get the levels/belts, its better to practice and master the art. By meaning master the art I mean knowing all that you have learnt and not disregard anything just because it is not in the next grading.
A question I have been asked is why practice Martial Arts?why don't I play "normal" sports like soccer,badminton,squash etc....well the same reason why the people that ask me don't do Martial Arts....they enjoy what they do. To explain why I carry on with Eskrima can be explained very easily, I enjoy it.
The atmosphere of a typical class, the training involved, the drills, the techniques and the sparring are all part of a great workout. There are great stories to be told there as well...as many Martial Artists can tell a great many life experiences that they have had and that they practiced something that most people didn't. I have many sparring and special training days that I like to share with you on this blog in the future. To me that is also special. In addition as detailed in my last blog I hopefully will teach the art I am learning to others.
There are also benefits that come with my enjoyment. Eskrima has improved my dexterity, arm strength and co-ordination and it has opened my eyes to Filipino cultural history.
So why do I carry it on?, the answers are because it offers stress release from work,it offers a great social platform,it offers a different way of keeping fit and it offers you self defence. But the number one reason why I practice it is because it’s positive for me.
Please feel free to write comments about this blog and about why you do Martial Arts and why you carry it on. Please check out my next journal due for next week detailing my Eskrima/JKD Instructors and how they have inspired me.
Thanks
Kit
5 comments:
i think bruce lee said it best when he said, its not what you do, its the way that you do it, not in those exact words, but something like that. Not sure about chasing belts, didnt think they could run that fast ,martial arts are like any other of the arts. Why did van gogh do what he did? he probably had 100 reasons, but it doesnt matter, he did it and he enjoyed it, other people enjoyed it and thats good enough. People can say a lot about anything you do, most of it tends to be negative, but, at the end of the day its all hot air. Any form of art tends to be heavily overanalysed. Do you use the art form, or does the art form use you? whether its a paintbrush ,guitar or rattan stick, We do what we do and the best thing to do is to sit back and simply experience & appreciate it.
Wasn't that Bananarama
i thought it was that school choir, they also did grandma we love you, amongst other hits, they should do a show ,where are they now?
Hi,its nice to read about other people learning the art of arnis.I am also a practitioner. My style is Alasteros, founded by Gm Alexander Asperas of the group PHILKADI. i am a filipino and now living in the southern part of Luzon.Keep it up, enjoy it as much as you can, but never forget to learn its true purpose and essence, and i wish your perseverance towards it would never wane. Be safe...
wallen
It's not what you do but the way you do it. Agreed Timmmyyyyy
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